A top US general has said the United States is prepared to use its ‘full range’ of military capabilities against North Korea

He added that America wanted to peacefully resolve the deepening standoff in what may have been an attempt to ease anxiety over tit-for-tat threats between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is visiting South Korea, Japan and China after a week in which Trump declared the U.S. military “locked and loaded” and said he was ready to unleash “fire and fury” if North Korea continued to threaten the United States.

North Korea, meanwhile, has threatened to lob four intermediate-range missiles into the waters near Guam, a tiny U.S. territory about 2,000 miles from Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.

Tensions between North Korea and the USA have been growing as the war of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un continues

This would be a deeply provocative act from the U.S. perspective, and there has been widespread debate about whether Washington would try to shoot the missiles down if they’re fired.

The U.S.-North Korea tension, which has simmered since the end of the Korean War in 1953, has grown more tense in recent months over worries that the North’s nuclear weapons program is nearing the ability to target the U.S. mainland.

Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month.

“We are seeking a peaceful resolution to the crisis,” Dunford, who also met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said to reporters, according to a local report.

MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS

'WE CALL B.S'

BIG BABY

Massive 14 pound newborn baby is so big he wears clothes for six-month-olds

'KNOW I LOVE YOU'

Heartbreaking texts between teen brothers who hid from Florida shooter

SANDY EMBRACE

Shocked beachgoers discover naked couple passed out in the sand

'DESPERATE VIRGINS CLUB'

Inside Russia's 'virginity' trade where girls sell sex to rich men

CRY BABY

Woman kicked off jet after threat to get crew sacked when she was sat next to baby

FAMILY MASSACRE

Mum 'shot husband and two grown-up kids dead before turning gun on herself'

WORLD'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS

Hilarious moment idiot burglar knocks his pal out cold with brick

BURIED ALIVE

Woman buried by mistake tried to fight her way out of coffin for 11 DAYS

SHIP THONG DING-DONG

Row over a FLIP FLOP sparked mass family brawl on luxury cruise liner

He earlier told his South Korean counterparts that America is ready “to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies and the U.S. homeland,” according to U.S. military spokesman Capt. Darryn James.

Moon separately called Monday for a peaceful solution to the nuclear standoff, saying that “there must not be another war on the Korean Peninsula,” according to his office.

In a meeting with top aides at the presidential Blue House, Moon said South Korea would work to safeguard peace on the peninsula in cooperation with the United States and other countries.

Kim Jong-un has launched a number of missile tests in recent weeks amid reports their technology has advanced

Dunford earlier told reporters travelling with him to Asia that he aims to “sense what the temperature is in the region.” He also will discuss military options in the event the “diplomatic and economic pressurisation campaign” fails.

“We’re all looking to get out of this situation without a war,” Dunford said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping talked on the phone Saturday with Trump and called for cool-headedness. Xi urged Washington and Pyongyang to avoid words or actions that could worsen the situation.

Trump has pushed China, North Korea’s biggest economic partner and source of aid, to do more to stop the North’s nuclear ambitions. Beijing says its influence on Pyongyang is limited.

Trump’s recent threats followed a report that U.S. intelligence indicates North Korea can now put a nuclear warhead on its long-range missiles.

For all his bluster, Trump’s words did not appear to be backed by significant military mobilization on either side of the Pacific, and an important, quiet diplomatic channel remained open.

On Sunday, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, tried to provide assurances that a conflict is avoidable, while also supporting Trump’s tough talk.

They said the United States and its allies no longer can afford to stand by as North Korea pushes ahead with the development of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.

President Trump says North Korea will be met with 'fire and fury' if it threatens the US

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.